Serious Eats: Chicago
A Sandwich a Day: Skirt Steak Sandwich from Art's Drive-In
[Photograph: Joe Roy]
The website for Art's Drive-In proclaims "Chicago's Favorite Breakfast & Lunch for 40 years." Brazen hyperbole? Absolutely. But in an area sorely lacking in places to get a quick bite (it's located in industrial corridor between Wicker Park and Lincoln Park), you could do much worse. I went with the Skirt Steak Sandwich ($8.29), which features the aforementioned steak, iceberg lettuce, sliced tomato, and mayo, all barely contained in a piece of lightly toasted garlic bread.
Skirt steak can be challenging to cook—it's so thin that it goes from done to tough in an instant, which means that the cooking surface has to be blazing hot to impart any sort of sear onto the meat. This over ten inch hunk of steak had a great smoky char flavor, but it did leave my jaw a bit sore by the end. The simple condiments meant that the steak was front and center, but some mustard and grilled onions would add a sweet and tangy dimension to the sandwich that would really elevate it.
Art's Drive-In
1333 W North Avenue Chicago, IL 60642 (map)
773-489-0099
artsdrivein.com
